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EDDAH – STC reduces by 50 percent all outgoing voice and video calls – SMS and MMS – to Morocco Friday (today) on the occasion of the countrys independence day.

The company said the reduction covers all Aljawal, SAWA and LANA customers.

The offer comes is in line with STCs keenness to share with its customers their happy moments anywhere, anytime by helping them communicate with their beloved ones at the lowest cost.

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JEDDAH – Children born to Saudi fathers and foreign mothers living abroad can integrate into Saudi society through programs developed by the Society for the Welfare of Saudi Families Abroad (Awasir), said Dr. Ali Al-Hinaki, an adviser at the society.

Al-Hinaki said the organization has signed several agreements with ministries of health and education and civil societies to enable these children to get their full rights. He said there are 598 Saudi families abandoned by their Saudi fathers consisting of 1,823 Saudis, a rate of more than four people in each family.

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FARNBOROUGH, England – General Atomics, which has already sold 435 Predator drones in recent years, sees growing demand for its unmanned planes, including a high-flying new successor to the Predator being considered by the US Navy for use on aircraft carriers as soon as 2018.

General Atomics has already received export licenses to sell an unarmed export version of the Predator to Saudi Arabia, Egypt, UAE and Morocco, and has applied for a license to sell to Pakistan, said company spokeswoman Kimberly Kasitz.

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FARNBOROUGH – The stream of plane orders continued at the Farnborough International Airshow on Tuesday, taking the tally past $21 billion and underscoring hopes of a resurgence in the aviation sector after a painful two-year downturn.

The deals at Farnborough, considered a barometer of the aviation and defense industry along with its sister show at Le Bourget in Paris in alternate years, show demand is reviving globally.

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FARNBOROUGH, England – Arch rivals Boeing Co. and Airbus announced new orders worth almost $13 billion at the start of the Farnborough International Airshow on Monday, raising hopes that the aviation industry is on the way back up after a dire two-year slump.

The aerospace market “has come back faster than we expected” and Boeing has twice raised its internal forecasts for the number of orders at the biennial show, said Boeing Commercial Airplanes President Jim Abaugh.

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JEDDAH: The International Islamic Relief Organization Saudi Arabia (IIROSA) has established about 56 health projects in 17 countries in Europe, Asia and Africa providing health-care services to about 500,000 patients, according to IIROSA Secretary-General Dr. Adnan Khalil Basha.

“Health services are considered an integral part of the relief work. The presence of these services is an extreme necessity among victims of natural disasters, civil wars, sectarian conflicts and other crises. Such predicaments often breed a large number of injured, let alone the refugees and displaced children, women and old men who are amassing at refugee camps and who need medical care,” he said.

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JEDDAH – Consumer confidence dropped in Saudi Arabia, the latest Middle East Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) survey conducted by the Middle Easts job site Bayt.com revealed.

The survey, prepared in conjunction with research specialists YouGov Siraj, found that Saudi Arabias index recorded a decline of 3.2 index points compared to the last quarter.

The highest decline was recorded by Egypt which saw a drop of 5.5 points, while Lebanon recorded the largest increase of 7.6 index points, following a large drop of 12.1 index points in the last wave.

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JEDDAH – The First Charity Women Association on Sunday night celebrated the return of Crown Prince Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General, to the Kingdom after undergoing medical treatment in the United States and a period of convalescence in Morocco.
Princess Moneerah Bint Abdul Aziz Bin Mosaed, the wife of the Crown Prince, donated SR3 million to the charity association during the function organized as “Sultani Night” at the Park Hayat Hotel here.
The First Charity Women Association organized the function under the patronage of Princess Moneerah and her daughters, and Princess Haifa Bint Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz.
The event was marked by traditional songs and dances typically performed on henna (marriage-eve) night.
Dr. Hala Al-Shaier, a senior official of the association, appreciated the generous donation from the Princess “which will go to needy families, orphans and homeless people”.
The ceremony ended with water screens, a laser show, and exotic fireworks. – SG

Attractive array of events planned across the KingdomJEDDAH – With the onset of summer vacation in the Kingdom, several regions are getting ready to host summer festivals with the usual fanfare and an attractive array of events.

Many Saudi families have already boarded planes for their destinations abroad and those who have chosen to enjoy domestic tourism have shown their eagerness to visit the many exotic tourism spots in the Kingdom.

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LAGOS – An eagerly-awaited submarine cable linking West Africa to Europe has gone live, paving the way for cheaper and more reliable internet access in one of the worlds fastest-growing telecoms markets, its operators said on Friday.

The 7,000 km (4,350 mile) fibre optic Main One Cable runs from Portugal to Nigeria and Ghana, and also branches out to Morocco, the Canary Islands, Senegal and Ivory Coast.

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